In-situ meteorological data collection is generally limited to large manned aircraft, large unmanned aircraft, balloons, and parachute dropsondes. The large manned and unmanned aircrafts are powered and actively controlled, and generally stabilized during operation. However, these aircrafts are unable to safely navigate through high winds in a storm system, where untapped and highly relevant data for weather prediction resides.
In a high wind shear environment of a storm system, only uncontrolled and passively stable platforms, such as balloons and dropsondes, survive long enough to collect and transmit data in a specific area of interest before falling into the ocean or rising beyond the altitude where measurements are needed. However, collection of this data is spatially and/or temporally sparse, and the collection is entirely dependent on the rate at which the sensor on the platform climbs and/or falls. Furthermore, these platforms are generally used once, and therefore, increase the overall cost of using these platforms.
Thus, an alternative approach may be beneficial.